Free as in Pizza

I am a programmer at an alt-weekly. Here are some things I’d like to try:

1. Non-free online classifieds. Yeah, well, we have these, and Craigslist has been a problem for that business model. But here’s a gimmick: It would cost money to post a basic free-form listing, but you could bring the price down by providing a more detailed, granular, and professional listing. This is the opposite of the classic model where we charge more if you want to add pictures or extras. Forget that. You want to add real pictures of the apartment you’re showing? Take 10% off for each room you photograph. You could get all the way down to free if you were willing to put the extra effort into it. Reading listings would be free, as usual, and the experience would be better because there is a built-in incentive for people to make their listings better.

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